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Chapter 57: How Dare You Hide Private Money

  Feng Yu's single sentence "Qing Tian" can be seen as an affirmation of the handling of Jingzhao Yin.

  The governor of Jingzhao finally put his mind at ease and immediately ordered his subordinates: "Put the prisoner in a large prison!"

  "Who dares!" Madam Shen shouted, "You're just a third-rank official of the capital, I'm the madam of the Left Prime Minister's household. You know he's my cousin and still dare to detain him? Lord Li, do you have multiple heads?"

  Jing Zhou Yin was also displeased, never expecting that the noble Madam Feng, wife of the Left Minister, would be such a person. Thinking about the recent rumors regarding the eldest son of the Left Minister's estate, he couldn't help but feel a few pangs of emotion.

  What's the use of having a high-ranking official position if your legitimate son is useless and your wife... is a bit too capable?

  He flung his sleeve, turned around and sat down behind the desk, "Madam Feng, this is the government office, not your backyard in Feng Mansion!" He spoke with a temper, bringing out that air of authority from the main hall, which really made Shen Shi tremble.

  "Old master." Shen's family wiped away tears and turned to Feng Jiyuan for help, "Brother-in-law has been helping the family manage the shop all these years, it's not easy. If this matter is investigated thoroughly, which shop will be spared? Why must he be locked up for three years?"

  Feng Jin Yuan would never have any sympathy for her, Shen's cousin had been looking down on her since long ago, that kind of relative was simply lowering the status of the Feng family.

  "Lord Li!" He rushed to Jing Quan with a fist, "In fact, I think three years is a bit less. Just now, my wife at home also said that such things are likely to be in every household, since this is the case, then the Left Prime Minister's Mansion should set an example and uphold justice by cutting off family ties. Please ask Lord Li to sentence him to ten years of imprisonment as a warning to others."

  Shen's body suddenly fell to the ground, and she stared at Feng Jin Yuan as if he were a stranger. For the first time, she realized that she had married a wolf, or rather, a starving wolf.

  How much did the Shen family spend for Feng's family? At that time when Feng Jin Yuan went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, the Shen family was just relatively better off in that village. She liked Feng Jin Yuan so much that she forced her father to exhaust all his wealth to support him in taking the imperial examination. But when he topped the list of successful candidates, he married Yao Qian Rou, the daughter of the Yao family instead.

  Shen's anger grew as she thought about it more, feeling increasingly wronged and humiliated. The sight of Feng Yuexian sitting with her head bowed on one side was like a thorn in her eyes, and she vowed to pull out this thorn no matter what!

  "Good!" Suddenly, the Prefect of Beijing shouted, startling everyone in the hall. "Feng Xiang's great righteousness in executing his own relative is truly a model for the capital! I hereby sentence the criminal to ten years' imprisonment!" After a moment's thought, he added another sentence: "No visits are allowed, and no reduction in sentence will be granted!"

  Shen closed his eyes, no longer interested in listening to the trial. But unexpectedly, Feng Yuexian, who was originally sitting and crying out in pain, suddenly spoke up again, slowly saying: "A small shopkeeper like him dares to sell fake ginseng and lingzhi, I don't know if he's too bold or if someone is behind him."

  "Ah Huang." The speaker was Feng Jin Yuan, who furrowed his brow, clearly somewhat impatient but not daring to say too much, and could only whisper: "Family scandals should not be spread outside, let's just stop here."

  She nodded and gave Feng Jin Yuan some face.

  The doctor was summoned quickly, and it turned out that Feng Yu Huan wasn't hurt at all. When Shen Shi grabbed her hair, she had already grasped Shen's wrist pulse, rendering him unable to exert any strength.

  But the doctor was obviously clever, and on the way here, he also heard a few words from the small official about what happened here. He then solemnly warned Feng Yuexiang: "Miss, you must be careful in the future, if someone uses such great force to tear your hair again, it's easy to cause localized hair loss!"

  Feng Jin Yuan's face turned a few shades darker, his gaze at Shen Shi becoming even more piercing.

  When the three of them left the government office and returned to Feng Manor, it was almost dinner time.

  The old lady brought three granddaughters and three young concubines to wait in the main hall of Peony Courtyard, hearing that Feng Jin Yuan and others returned, they hurriedly invited them over.

  Shen's family had been holding in their anger, but as soon as they saw Feng Chenyu, they couldn't hold it in anymore. Holding onto his daughter, he burst into loud sobs - "Chenyu! You have to take charge for your mother! Your uncle was sent to the great prison by that evil woman Feng Yuexian, and he's been locked up for ten years!"

  A fish startled by a sudden noise.

  When the yamen came to ask Feng Jin Yuan and Shen Shi to go through the hall, they briefly explained their intention. She knew that there was a problem with her uncle's side. Thinking that no matter what, this is a family affair, at most it would be scolding when returning home, and it would not make a big fuss. But unexpectedly, she was sentenced to ten years.

  The old lady was also stunned for a moment, but then asked: "Is the owner of Baicao Hall really your cousin?"

  Waited for half a day to see Mrs. Shen, she just cried and didn't answer, so I asked Chen Yu instead: "You say."

  Helpless, he could only nod: "It's my uncle."

  "Foolishness!" The old lady pointed at Shen with her cane: "This kind of relative still dares to send things to our family's shop? Shen, Shen, when will your maternal family stop taking advantage of the Feng manor?"

  As soon as the words came out, everyone's mouth was turned down. Although Shen's family members were not ashamed of their daily behavior, if they had to say who took advantage of whom, it was clear that the Feng family took advantage of the Shen family. The Feng family's ability to grow to this extent in just over twenty years is inseparable from the wealth of the Shen family.

  But these words were spoken by the old lady, so no one dared to speak out against her, let alone that she was scolding Shen Shi, even if it was wrong, no one wanted to stand on Shen Shi's side and say a word for her.

  Madam Shen was also so angry that she was almost out of breath, tightly grasping the hand of Shen Yu and trembling uncontrollably.

  "Didn't you hear?!" She didn't directly confront the old lady, but instead turned to Shen Yu and said: "Daughter, remember, remember what they said today! In the future, I'll get it all back from them bit by bit!"

  "What does Mother want to talk about?" Feng Yuexian asked while covering her hair with her hand.

  The old lady noticed something was wrong and asked anxiously: "Ah Huang, is your head hurting?"

  Feng Yu Huan said to the old lady with a wronged expression: "When I went to the prefecture before, my mother rushed up and scolded me as soon as she saw me, desperately pulling my hair. The governor of Jingzhao had invited a doctor over, and that doctor said that if there was another such tussle, he feared that this patch would never grow hair again."

  The old lady was enraged: "Shen Shi! You may be the mistress, but you have no right to brutally beat a concubine!"

  An said anxiously beside her, "How can this be good? The second young lady is the future imperial princess consort. If the emperor were to find out about this..."

  Feng Jin Yuan also remembered this matter and hastily asked Feng Yu Huang: "Today, when you saw the Crown Prince, did he say anything?"

  Feng Yu sneered coldly in her heart, thinking that this father was concerned about the attitude of Xuan Tian Ming from start to finish and what kind of disaster it would bring to himself, but for her as a daughter, he didn't care at all.

  "Dad, don't worry, the prince only asked Ah Huang if she's doing well and if she's being bullied in the mansion, that's all."

  Everyone wipes sweat, is this still considered nothing? You Feng Yuexian didn't get bullied in the mansion, did you?

  Feng Jin Yuan didn't dare ask Feng Yu Huang how he answered, the fire in his heart had nowhere to vent, and just as Shen Shi let out another sob, he turned around and slapped her - "You venomous woman still have the nerve to cry?"

  Shen was beaten thoroughly and had no temper left, she just tightly hugged Feng Ceng Yu, hugging her only lifesaving straw.

  Feng Chenyu didn't dare to turn against Feng Jin Yuan at all, she wanted to turn over a new leaf, but had to rely on this prime minister father of hers, in comparison, her mother seemed not that important anymore.

  But to Feng Yuexiang, she didn't care that much and couldn't help but turn her head, saying bitterly: "Second sister, why must you do this? Family harmony is the foundation of all prosperity! That man is our uncle after all, even if he's made a mistake, it's not right to send him to the yamen. This will make Father lose face in front of his colleagues."

  Feng Jin's heart was moved, and he knew that Chen Xing had been worried about him. If he hadn't made this gesture today, the Metropolitan Governor would have probably made a big deal out of it in front of the officials. Now at least he could gain a good reputation for upholding justice and putting family ties aside.

  Feng Yu Huan listened to Chen Yu's words and naturally didn't fall behind, so she also followed the conversation: "I'm also speaking on behalf of Father's grievances. Everyone knows that Father gave up his position as the head of the household to Mother because he felt guilty about the compensation from the Feng family, but who would have thought that Mother's wealth came from such a source?" As she spoke, she cast her gaze at the old lady again, "Grandmother, Father is really too aggrieved."

  One sentence turned the source of Shen's family wealth in a different direction.

  The Shen family was done for, and they couldn't even be bothered to wail and cry. Turning around, she scolded Feng Yu Huang: "You cheap person! With just those few broken shops of yours, the annual income is only enough to choke on 500,000 to 600,000 taels. Look at what's being consumed in this mansion, and ask your father how much those fine goods he sends to the palace every year are worth? Even if I were to embezzle all of your shops, it wouldn't be enough to feed this family!"

  Feng Chenyu wrinkled her brow in distress, having a mother who was always dragging her down was really too much to bear.

  "Didn't Mother say that those three shops of mine were all losing assets?" Feng Yuexian asked in confusion, "But it turns out that there's actually 50,000 to 60,000 taels every year! And yet this money wasn't even used on the Feng family, so where did it go?"

  Feng Jin Yuan was also stunned, how did those shops make so much money? Five or six hundred thousand taels of silver, his annual salary was only 100,000, Shen's family had been in charge of those shops for many years, just like Feng Yu Huang asked, where did the money go?

  For a moment, everyone cast suspicious glances at Shen.

  Shen also knew that she had been tricked by Feng Yu into speaking out, but once the words were spoken, they were like spilled water, and no matter how hard she tried to take them back, it was too late.

  "It's all filled in already." She found an excuse for herself, "It's all been filled in already."

  "Hmph!" The old lady wasn't so easily fooled, "The account book you handed in doesn't have this item written down. And there are many expenses that are still too vague, I was thinking of going over it again when my body feels a bit better in a few days!"

  Standing beside Han Shi, Feng Pian Dai had always been someone who couldn't keep her words to herself. At this moment, upon hearing that Shen Shi had obtained so much silver, her little universe of combat was stirring again - "Last year on Pian Dai's birthday, originally Grandma said she would give me a good dress made of Shu brocade, but Mother sent over just an ordinary brocade, and even told Pian Dai to be understanding because the public is tense. Who would have thought that Mother had actually hidden all the silver away."

  This Phoenix Pin Dai head once said to the point, directly gave Shen Shi a hat of hiding private money.

  Feng Jin pointed at Shen's nose and asked her: "Five or six hundred thousand a year, after so many years of holding onto the shop, how much money have you hidden? Speak!"

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